MORGAN ASKES FOR CHANGES TO CRICKET

One-day captain of the English team Eion Morgan has asked for the game to adapt to change ahead of the ECB new city-based T20 tournament.

He claims that the new generation of fans are falling out of love with the sport so the game has to evolve to accommodate them.

Morgan addressed chairmen and chief executives of the 18 countries. He was invited to the meeting in London by the ECB chief executive Tom Harrison. Morgan addressed them, hoping to tackle their reservations ahead of the crucial vote next month where the new tournament would be seeking a final stamp.

“Change is always difficult but I don’t think this is change. It probably should have happened a while ago. We’re always going to have the same cricket fans unless we do something differently. It’s a huge responsibility in growing the game. People are falling out of love with the game because it’s not engaging enough with the public,” Morgan opined at an event in Uxbridge.

Morgan spoke highly of the impact of the 2005 Ashes on the game. He said the tournament had many people “who aren’t necessarily into cricket talking about” it. He said the franchise-style T20 tournament will make many people talk about the sport that much again. He claims the response from fans would “as big a change as taking cricket to free-to-air.” He says the changes will make English cricket as special as the once-in-four-years Ashes series or once-in-two-years Champions Trophy.

Morgan, who is set to join the Kings XI Punjab team for his seventh season of the IPL, has been one of the popular faces advocating for changes to English cricket.